It was an early morning start again, we wanted to head out of Rivendall by about 8 am and we knew we had another long day of trekking ahead of us. The breakfast was excellent, in this part most tea houses had ovens and baked their own bread in the morning. Rivendall was a well equipped resort and after a lovely breakfast of freshly baked bread, my usual pancakes and lots of milk tea, we were ready to leave Rivendall. Incidentally, Rivendall is named in the honor of the hidden elvish valley of Rivendall in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ and the tea house is located between two mountains separated by a river.
Our injured friend needed an extra day of rest and she was going to stay over in Rivendall for one more day. We hoped, the ankle would get better with a days rest.
It had rained a lot the previous night and there was a drizzle as we got out. We decided to wear our rain pants right away and our rain jackets as we headed out. We soon reached a monastery that was run by woman monks. There were several Buddhist inscriptions on large stones outside the monastery. We paid a quick visit inside; it was a small place but was very peaceful. We prayed for a successful trip, made a small donation and headed out.
A large part of the trail today was along the Dudh Kosi river, the river was extreme white water with lots of rapids and strong currents.
After what seemed like a long walk, we reached a stupa which signaled we were close to Pangbouche; we all needed a break and were looking forward to tea. Pangbouche is a village in the Khumjung region of the Solukhumbu district and is located in the Imja Khole valley at an altitude of 3985 m. It was a steep climb as we approached what seemed like an arch prior to reaching the village. We were tired and we enjoyed the hot tea. After a short break, we proceeded further. The trail was scenic and one could see the strong currents in the river. The altitude did not allow for trees anymore and we could vast grasslands, an occasional wild horse grazing the vast tracts of grass and shrubs. Occasionally, we gave way for a herd of yaks carrying loads up and down the trail.
We finally reached the village of Sonmare for lunch. After the usual lunch of garlic soup and Dal bhat, we proceeded further.
The trail was not very steep. It was getting rocky and there were no trees any more, we were above the tree line now. The river had a meandering course and the currents seemed very strong.
Finally we reached the village of Dingbouche by 230 pm; its a village in the Khumbu region of north eastern Nepal in the Chukhung valley at an altitude of 4530 m. The village heavily relies on trekkers to the Himalayan peaks of Everest, Ama Dablam and Imja Tse. It is also an important base for trekkers for acclimatization and we were going to be spending the next day as a rest day in Dingbouche.
We were booked at the Moonlight lodge, a tea house close to the helipad and west of the Imja river. For the first time, we had western toilets in our rooms but it has to be flushed using water placed in a large drum in the bathroom! The tea house had the option of a gas shower at Rs. 300 per shower and we were considering if we should use it tomorrow prior to leaving Dingbouche. It would possibly be our last one prior to base camp! Dinner consisted of vegetable momos, vegetable noodles and the ever present garlic soup. We were happy we were at 4500 m and none of us had any signs of altitude sickness.
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